You are here: Home / About Golf

Garcia edges into Team Europe

August 31, 2012 By

Sergio Garcia has been a golfer in the wilderness for some time but the Spaniard is starting to get back to the form that made him one of the highest profile players in the European game.

The 32-year-old managed to win the rain-delayed Wyndham Championship on Monday to earn a place in the European Ryder Cup side, who will face the Americans at the Medinah Country Club next month.

Garcia will be delighted to have earned a place in the side, especially since he missed out on the Ryder Cup two years ago at Celtic Manor, when Europe enjoyed a fine victory over the USA.

The golfer, who is yet to win a major in his career so far, was delighted to secure a win on American soil this week which will stand him in good stead for the biggest event on the golfing calendar, which all gets underway on September 28.

Garcia, who will place under his countryman and skipper Jose Maria Olazabal, said: “I am proud of the way I played coming in.

“Obviously I won a couple of times last year in Europe, but it’s been a while here (in the United States) and it feels great.

“I hit some really good shots and made some nice four or five-footers when I had to. I’m very happy about the way the week has gone.”

Garcia certainly has the experience to add to the Team Europe squad and hopefully he will be inspired by the occasion in Illinois next month, to produce the kind of golf that brought him success at the Wyndham Championship.

click here for betfair golf betting odds and click here for latest ryder cup betting tips.

Filed Under: About Golf, Golf News, Golfing Tips

Georgia on my mind

August 23, 2012 By

The gracious decision by Augusta National to allow women to be members of their golf club may have come a little late and isn’t going to do a lot for anybody of the fairer sex who is a) not at the very top of her profession or b) a dollar multi-millionaire.

But we shouldn’t be getting on our high horse about this. Three courses on the British Open circuit, including next year’s venue, Muirfield, still don’t hold with women members, 90 years or so after they won the right to vote. Even cricket has been relatively progressive in this area; Lord’s having allowed women in since 1998.

So well done Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore, but what about the rest of us plebs? In theory, it is possible for us, both men and women, to tread the hallowed fairways of Augusta and Muirfield as well as Troon and Sandwich (the two other Clubs with all-male membership), but you either need to be invited by a member (“Hi, this is Condi, fancy a round?”) or remortgage your house to pay the green fee.

Not that long ago you could play courses like Troon, Muirfield and St Andrews without breaking the bank. Not now. It’s seriously expensive and not a feasible option to anybody earning a normal wage.

But just supposing you could play any course in the world just once, where would that be? Augusta would probably be a strong favourite among the mid-range handicappers, if only to stop Peter Alliss banging on about us never breaking a hundred.

But it seems the old codger might be right. Traditionally, the Press are invited to play at Augusta the day after Masters Sunday and ex-pro Beverley Lewis admits to going round in “loads.” Mind you, she had to play off the men’s tees because of course that’s the only tees they have.

Don’t forget to follow the link for more golf betting tips as well as checking out Betfair’s dedicated Ryder Cup page, with all the latest news, odds and expert opinion, check it out over at:
http://betting.betfair.com/golf/golf-events/ryder-cup/

Filed Under: About Golf

A golf Handicap

July 22, 2011 By

A golfing handicap is a number that is utilised in making the contest between players of differing ability levels more even. The figure is figured out employing a difficult formula that accounts for the golfer’s changed gross scores and the issue of the course.

The lower the number, the better the golfer. A “scratch” golfer is one with a handicap of zero or better. When 2 golfers with different handicaps play together, the handicaps are used to even the field.

At it’s most elementary, if an individual with a handicap of two plays against somebody with a handicap of ten, the 1st person cuts 2 strokes off their score last score, while the second person cuts ten strokes off their last score. The scores are then matched against see who won.

For a handicap to be official, it sometimes must be got thru an organisation like the US Golfing organisation ( USGA ). The formula for figuring a handicap accounts for the problem of the course on which a round was played to give a rather more correct illustration of a golfer’s ability level. To do that, the USGA allots what is referred to as a slope rating to each set of tees on each course. This number is figured into the formula that works out a golfing handicap. The slope rating is also used to pinpoint the number of strokes a golfer gets at a selected course. A person’s golfing handicap and the slope rating are input into a formula that decides the handicap the individual will use for that course. This number can vary from the player’s golfing handicap dependent on the issue of the course. Since not all courses have the equivalent level of difficulty, this makes player handicaps more related to the course being played. Handicaps can level the contest between 2 players or in a bigger competition. In a competition setting, each player’s handicap is applied to their gross score, and the net score is used to define the winner.

Filed Under: About Golf Tagged With: , ,

“Fore”

July 12, 2011 By

There are a range of reasons as to the reasons why golfers scream “fore” when hitting a golfball.

While nobody is precisely sure where the term came from, it’s currently a commonly utilized way to alert others on the golfing course. Some professionals suggest the term has been utilized for centuries, since perhaps the eighteenth or 19th century.

One possible reason for the term is it’s meant as the seafaring term for “front.” On a ship, mariners don’t say “front” and “back,” but instead “fore” and “aft.” Screaming “fore” in golfing is a method to warn those in front of you to look out, so this reason definitely makes some sense. Another reason is army in nature. In the period of time when golfing was taking hold in the UK, artillery like cannon was a mainstay of battle. As infantry historically marches in front of artillery, the shooters would roar caution before firing by announcing “beware before.” As infantrymen would need as much time as feasible to tray and take cover, the term became shortened to “fore.” Ultimately , this could became used on the golfing course, to alert those ahead about inward-bound golfballs.

Filed Under: About Golf Tagged With: , ,